The past few weeks I've been struggling with a very hard decision. Shadow will be turning 13 on Monday. She's had arthritis in varying degrees for the last several years so this is not unexpected...but no matter how much I think I'm prepared for something like this, I am most decidedly NOT. It all started when she went to the groomers a few weeks ago and they couldn't finish because she was having too much trouble standing up. So I took her to the vet & got her started on an etogesic program to help alleviate some of the pain. The worst part has been that in every other aspect, she has not changed a bit - she still wants the frisbee thrown at every opportunity, she struggles to come out to greet me every night when I get home - which has made it that much harder to come to this decision.

At first the etogesic seemed to be helping a bit but I am wondering now if it has not made things worse. Most likely the pain was keeping her from doing too much. The last few days she seems to have been deteriorating rapidly in terms of her ability to walk and since last night, she doesn't seem to be able to put weight onto her hind legs at all. She still insists on moving around - following me from room to room but it is heart-wrenching to watch as she ends up crawling & dragging herself around. I have found a vet that makes housecalls so that she can go without the stress of a vet visit.

so very hard to say goodbye

The past few weeks I've been struggling with a very hard decision. Shadow will be turning 13 on Monday. She's had arthritis in varying degrees for the last several years so this is not unexpected...but no matter how much I think I'm prepared for something like this, I am most decidedly NOT. It all started when she went to the groomers a few weeks ago and they couldn't finish because she was having too much trouble standing up. So I took her to the vet & got her started on an etogesic program to help alleviate some of the pain. The worst part has been that in every other aspect, she has not changed a bit - she still wants the frisbee thrown at every opportunity, she struggles to come out to greet me every night when I get home - which has made it that much harder to come to this decision.

At first the etogesic seemed to be helping a bit but I am wondering now if it has not made things worse. Most likely the pain was keeping her from doing too much. The last few days she seems to have been deteriorating rapidly in terms of her ability to walk and since last night, she doesn't seem to be able to put weight onto her hind legs at all. She still insists on moving around - following me from room to room but it is heart-wrenching to watch as she ends up crawling & dragging herself around. I have found a vet that makes housecalls so that she can go without the stress of a vet visit.

2 down...38 to go!

I've started a new project - a throw to replace the current, fast-unravelling one. I am most excited to be working on something that I will actually be keeping. I've realized that up to this point, I have made 8 blankets, 3 scarves and various other assorted things and not even a picture to show for it!
Since it's for the living room, I thought the navy would make a nice complement to the sofa (although with the small hook required, I am wishing that I had a slightly lighter yarn just to be able to see the stitches a little easier, particularly on those first few rounds). I chose this pattern because I like the "lacy" look...and the pineapples always remind me of my grandmother's afghans. (I'm not sure if she liked that pattern best or not, but we certainly had quite a few afghans growing up in that pattern.)

Speaking of pineapples, I think this last one that I planted may actually be "taking"!! It was hard to tell at first as the lower leaves dried up but I noticed today that there are new leaves growing up from the middle. Hurrah!

garden update

I know I've been quite remiss in updating this blog lately, what with a couple of more-than-usually stressful weeks at work but thought you'd like an update on the garden. For the most part, I am trying desperately to keep everything hanging on until we eventually (hopefully!) get some real rain! In the meantime, there are some notable exceptions.

For one, the bougainvillea seems to be thriving. I read recently that cilantro will flower & go to seed when water is scarce as a survival tactic. Makes me wonder if bougainvillea is the same? For whatever reason, it is absolutely breathtaking...
The other notable exception is the rain garden area. Not sure whether it's the result of the rainwater collection (doubtful since i've had only 2 rains in the last 2 mos. yes, that's right. 2x since the 4/6 posting...and none of them real Florida rain...just that teasing kind they have up north where you are *told* that it's raining but can walk out to your car only feeling 1 or 2 drops. Hardly worth even having a rain gutter!) or whether the plants are just better suited. Whatever it is, I need to find the secret and somehow spread it to the rest of the yard. It amazes me with its rich lushness, esp. when compared to the sandy, patchy, dried up grass next to it.

raw

[Warning: This post is not for the squeamish!]

So my latest venture into the world of the non-traditional (that is actually most traditional!) is something called raw feeding. I was somewhat primed for this by the last book I read (Omnivore's Dilemma) and its talk of species-appropriate diets (although it was referring to cows & chickens!). I had read or maybe just heard about the concept prior to that but between Shadow's almost incessant licking lately and the aforementioned book, I thought I'd do some investigation. Turns out to be quite a....robust topic of conversation online with several camps (of course) as to the *real* proper diet for dogs, ranging from the "food science" of kibble to the "prey model" (basically, feeding dogs diets similar to those of their closest wild relative, the gray wolf. Thankfully this does NOT involve having the dog actually kill the prey.)

The realization that Shadow's previous diet was the most processed food in my house, with an ingredient list to match (Chicken By-Product Meal (natural source of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine), Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Chicken, Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Fish Meal, Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Beta-Carotene, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid], Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Fructooligosaccharides, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Choline Chloride, Flax Meal, Minerals [Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate], Dried Chicken Cartilage (natural source of Chondroitin Sulfate and Glucosamine), DL-Methionine, Marigold, L-Carnitine, Rosemary Extract), helped solidify my decision. So I've started her off on whole chickens (by feeding the whole bird, you ensure the right dietary mix of meat, bone & organ meat) and plan to start working in fish 1x/wk and other meats. Thankfully Costco sells organic chickens for about $1/lb so it doesn't make that big of an impact on my diet...or my conscience...although eventually I'd like to get a deep freeze to be able to get more "ethical" meat by buying in bulk.

Here's a clip of her chowing down. I was pleasantly surprised to find that she confines herself to the towel and is for the most part, very clean about it. It's only been about a week but already I've noticed that her teeth are sparkling, she no longer has "doggie" breath, AND she's stopped licking herself (which makes me feel horrible since in all likelihood she's been allergic to something in the kibble all along).

For more on raw feeding, there are a couple of websites that seem to be most prominent:
http://rawfed.com/myths/index.html
http://www.rawlearning.com/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/